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Former Jeopardy! Champ Says Show Should Limit Consecutive Wins: 'Might as Well Move the Show to Vegas'

Is it time for Jeopardy! to change its format?

Former Jeopardy! champion Tom Nichols is the latest to say the trivia show needs to limit consecutive wins. In a conversation with Boston Public Radio, he shared how the game's rules make it more difficult for new players to win, or make a name for themselves.

Jeopardy!
Jeopardy!

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"After about two or three wins, I think you've got such an advantage. You've been using the buzzer, — which is much more important than people realize; you're a lot more comfortable in the studio; you understand the rhythm of the game," Nichols explained.

"Newer people just walking in there don't really have much of a chance, and that's purely because the returning champions have mastered the mechanics of the game," he claimed.

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Amy Schneider
Amy Schneider

courtesy jeopardy inc.

Nichols' comments come as viewers have been watching Amy Schneider, the woman with the most consecutive game wins of all time, on a historic winning streak. So far, she's won 38 games and $1,307,200, making her the 5th highest earner on Jeopardy! ever.

Nichols' point outlined the old Jeopardy! rules, which made people "retire" from the game after five wins. "If you've done that for eight, nine, 10 games, there's a reason they used to retire you," he said. "But the ratings are up, and people want to treat it like a sport and professionalize it. You might as well move the show to Vegas."

The former Jeopardy! contestant first appeared on the show in 1994. At the time, he won four games and lost his fifth, though he was invited back when the series confirmed he was actually right about an answer that Jeopardy! had determined to be wrong. Nichols went on to win the redo of his fifth game, according to the Jeopardy! archives.

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Conversations on Twitter also echoed Nichols' point. While many longtime viewers claim to find the current format tired, others questioned the timing of the complaints.

Schneider is the first transgender woman to make the Tournament of Champions, as well as the first woman to hold such a winning streak.